About Zackary Drucker and Rhys Ernst

Working collaboratively, Zackary Drucker and Rhys Ernst are both artists in their own right: Drucker is primarily a performance artist and photographer, while Ernst is a filmmaker. Their collaborative practice gained public attention and fanfare at the 2014 Whitney Biennial, where they premiered Relationship. Initially a private work, the piece is a series of honest, dreamlike photographs—in the tradition of Nan Goldin—that document their romantic partnership over the course of five years, during which they were both in the process of transitioning (Drucker from male to female, Ernst from female to male). While the subject matter of their work gives it an inherently political element, the artists shy away from didacticism, veering instead toward bold sexuality and intimacy.